Streamingtjänster har förändrat hur människor lyssnar på musik och upptäcker ny musik. Det har också underlättat för mindre artister att nå lyssnare och potentiella fans utan ett skivbolag som distribuerar och marknadsför. Samtidigt har sociala medier förändrat hur artister når ut och upprätthåller relationen med sina fans. Försäljningen av fysiska album når rekordlåga nivåer och streaming av musik gör så att lyssnaren fokuserar på den enskilda låten snarare än artisten bakom den eller ett album artisten skapat. Professionella inom musikbranschen uttrycker därför en oro för att lyssnaren inte längre bryr sig lika mycket om artisten. Dessa genomgående förändringar i musikbranschen väcker frågan hur lyssnaren förhåller sig till artisten och vilken relevans artisten har när lyssnaren upptäcker ny musik och lyssnar på musiken i sina spellistor. Detta arbete har undersökt frågan kvantitativt och kvalitativt genom en enkät och semi-strukturerade samtal med fokusgrupper. Resultaten pekar på att dagens lyssnare inte väljer ny musik utifrån artisten på samma sätt som att en lyssnare förr köpte ett fysiskt album av en artist de tycker om. Ny musik väljs nästan enbart utifrån den enskilda låtens kvalité som bedöms efter en första lyssning. Intresset för artisten har dock inte gått förlorat eftersom lyssnare fortfarande gärna vidare utforskar artister som sticker ut. De flesta har fortfarande en eller flera artister de är särskilt fästa vid vilka de följer genom sociala medier och genom att lyssna på ny musik artisten släpper. / Music streaming services have changed the way people listen to music and discover new music. It has also made it easier for smaller artists to reach listeners and potential fans without the distribution and marketing of a music label. Simultaneously social media have changed the way artists reach out to and maintan a relationship with their fans. Physical album sales reach record lows and streaming of music makes the listener focus on the individual song rather than the artist behind it or an album. Because of this professionals in the music industry express a concern that the listener no longer cares so much about the artist. These major changes in the music industry raise the question of how the listener relates to the artist and what relevance the artist has when the listener discovers new music and listens to the music in their playlists. This thesis has investigated the question quantitatively and qualitatively through a survey and semi-strucutured discussions with focus groups. The results indicate that today’s listener does not choose new music based on an artist in the same way as a listener previously would buy a physical album by an artist they liked. New music is chosen almost exclusively based on the quality of the individual song which is evaluated after a first listen. Interest in artists has not been lost however as the listener still enjoys exploring artists who “stand out”. Most people still have one or more artists to whom they are particularly attached and will follow on social media and by listening to new material the artist releases.

This thesis studies online fan communities, using the recent popularity of chess on live streamingplatform Twitch.tv as a case study to examine audience and cultural convergence between high and popular culture in a digital community setting. Bourdieu’s theoretical concepts field and capital are utilised in order to investigate changing structures and norms within this converging chess field. Affordances of the Twitch platform, too, are considered as key role players in the transformation ofchess culture online. Through participant observation in a live stream channel and through content analysis of online forum materials discussing the Twitch-hosted amateur chess "PogChamps"tournament, the study’s findings suggest that the introduction of a new platform like Twitch into a fieldlike the chess field can fundamentally restructure the community. This can occur because of platform affordances that offer new means for community members to accumulate valuable capital by setting new terms for what constitutes valuable capital and what it means to be "in the know" in the field. Additionally, by bringing new audiences to the chess community, Twitch is a key influencer indeveloping what can be seen as a new form of fan community centred around chess that emphasises spectacle and entertainment above game proficiency. These findings, the thesis concludes, can beapplied in similar community contexts in order to further understand the dynamic nature of online communities.

Supportive fan bases in live events are more than casual viewers. They are the result of an active audience who have shifted the power dichotomy between producers and viewers via their range of participation. Drawing from scholars like Jacques Ranciere, Henry Jenkins, and Adam Alston, this essay uses Evermore Park in Pleasant Grove, UT, as a case study to review levels of engagement within spectatorship, and particularly how fandom can lead to audience takeover of immersive spaces. Evermore Park is a unique site that sits at the intersection of all three performance genres--immersive theater, park studies, and live action role-play. It is ripe for takeover as the producers encourage audiences to participate in increasingly liberal ways. This paper specifically focuses on the powerful position of the "fan" to contest producers and take over the space through their influence over the narrative, costume design, and online presence.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka didaktiska möjligheter Harry Potter-serien av J.K. Rowling kan ha i årskurs F – 3. För att undersöka detta har vi genomfört en kvalitativ samtalsintervju med två elever i årskurs 2 kring deras tankar och erfarenheter av Harry Potter-serien, samt en läsvaneenkät som 62 elever i årskurs 2 deltog i. Utöver dessa datainsamlingar valde vi även att analysera två fan fiction-texter baserade på Harry Potter-serien skrivna av samma elever som vi intervjuade. Den teoretiska grund vi tagit avstamp i är Alkestrands avhandling Magiska möjligheter – Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl och Cirkeln i skolans värdegrundsarbete (2016) och Langers Litterära föreställningsvärldar: litteraturundervisning och litterär förståelse (2017).Frågeställningarna vi utgått från i vår undersökning lyder: Hur ser elevers erfarenheter och tankar kring Harry Potter-serien ut i årskurs F – 3? Hur ser de föreställningsvärldar som eleverna skapar sig kring Harry Potter-serien ut? Vilken didaktisk potential kan Harry Potter-serien och fantasylitteraturen innehålla?Slutsatsen vi kan dra av våra analyser av enkätsvaren, samtalsintervjun och elevernas fanfiction samt genom den teori vi utgått från är att Harry Potter-serien har didaktisk potential i årskurs F – 3. Vårt främsta argument för detta är att det hos eleverna som deltagit i vår undersökning finns ett stort intresse för serien eftersom många sedan tidigare har erfarenhet av den. Att använda elevers erfarenheter som utgångspunkt för lärande är ett fenomen som kallas för erfarenhetspedagogik, vilket blivit ett centralt begrepp för oss i skrivandet av vårt examensarbete eftersom det understryker skönlitterära texters didaktiska potential.Nyckelord: fan fiction, fantasylitteratur, Harry Potter, läsning, erfarenhetspedagogik, undervisning, litteraturdidaktik, F – 3

The field of algebraic tropical geometry establishes a deep connection between algebraic geometry and combinatorics by associating to certain classical algebraic varieties so called tropical varieties, which are polyhedral complexes in some real vectorspaces. Tropical varieties are closely related to the Groebner complexes of the ideal defining the classical variety. In this thesis the tropical variety of an ideal is studied under a generic change of coodinates. Analogously to the existence of generic initial ideals the existence of generic Groebner complexes and generic tropical varieties is proved. Moreover, it is shown that in the constant coefficient case information on the invariants dimension, Hilbert-Samuel multiplicity and depth of the corresponding coordinate rings can be obtained from generic tropical varieties.

Orientador: Alvaro Luiz Hattnher / Banca: Márcio Roberto do Prado / Banca: Nilce Maria Pereira / Resumo: O objetivo desta pesquisa será o de analisar fanfictions - em tradução literal "ficção de fã" - da saga Harry Potter em todas as suas especificidades - formato, definições, caraterísticas, postagem e público. Este último, por sua vez, trata-se de um público único e bastante presente em nosso objeto de pesquisa: o fã. Com a evolução tecnológica pelo qual nossa sociedade atual tem passado, novos gêneros literários vão desenvolvendo-se e ganhando cada vez mais espaço na internet. Uma das razões para que isso ocorra é também o aumento significativo da cultura de massa, termo definido por Kellner (2001) e de grandes lançamentos de best sellers que acumulam uma legião de seguidores, como é o caso de Harry Potter, líder das fanfictions acessadas no website fonte desta pesquisa. Dentre as mais de 800 mil fanfictions de Harry Potter as quais tivemos acesso, selecionamos cinco, todas elas pertencentes à classificação específica de universo alternativo, cuja definição é uma releitura e/ou adaptação da obra original para um novo contexto, distanciando-se, assim, do que foi estabelecido no texto original. A questão que move esta pesquisa é: uma vez que o fã da obra original de Harry Potter foi atraído para a série, considerando-se, especialmente, a existência de ferramentas literárias, como modalidade de narrador e verossimilhança, utilizadas para criar uma realidade paralela à nossa realidade e convencer seu leitor a aceitá-la sem questionamentos, o que faz com que ele continue... / Abstract: The purpose of this research is to analyze Harry Potter saga fanfictions in all its specificities ─ format, definitions, characteristics, posting and audience. The latter, in turn, is a unique audience and very present in our research objective: the fan. Considering the technological evolution that our current society has gone through, new literary genres have been developed and gained more space on the internet. One of the reasons for this to occur is also the significant increase of mass culture, a term defined by Kellner (2001), and big best sellers releases that accumulate a legion of followers, such as Harry Potter, leader of the fanfictions accessed on the website used as a source for this research. Among more than 800,000 Harry Potter fanfictions that we had access to, we selected five, all of them belonging to the specific alternative universe classification, whose definition is a rereading and/or adaptation of the original work to a new context, destiny or personality of the characters, thus, distancing itself from what it was established in the original text. The question that moves this research is: since the fan of the original Harry Potter work was attracted to the series, especially considering the existence of literary tools, such as narrator modality and verisimilitude, used to create a reality parallel to our reality and to convince its readers to accept it without question, what keeps readers interested and assiduously following the texts of alternative ... / Mestre

As fandom studies are becoming more popular and important, one fandom yet remains largely unstudied: the fandom surrounding Disneyland. The Disneyland fandom is unique in a number of ways, chief among them the fans’ relationship to the content creators: unlike many other companies in similar positions, Disney seeks to put boundaries on fan participation and to discourage or stamp out behaviors it deems unacceptable. And yet, in spite of this official meddling, the fandom continues to thrive. I propose that the reason for this unique dynamic is the Disney “Magic”—that is, fans’ recognition of a unique emotional experience inherent in visiting the park, composed of a mix of nostalgia, immersion in the park experience, and the unique Disney atmosphere, all of which is often described using quasi-spiritual language. I posit that the Magic is what keeps fans coming back: they feel that something is special about the park, and seek to engage with it more deeply through various fan activities—activities which, paradoxically, seem to threaten that same Magic that inspires such dedication in the first place. In this thesis, I look at three specific fan activities, both to explore this concept of Magic further, and to learn more about this understudied fandom. The first topic is urban legends of ash scatterings in the Haunted Mansion ride, which appear to simultaneously be a commentary on harsh working conditions inside the park, and, more importantly, a perhaps-misguided attempt to pay respect to the deep connections fans have to Disneyland. The second is pin trading, which functions both as a folk activity guests can use to build their public identities, and also as a market for cheap fakes that tarnishe the Magic. The third is Disneybounding, a costuming activity that expresses fans’ love of the park, while carefully stepping around Disney’s regulations preventing such activities. Even in the diverse and fascinating array of fandoms, the Disneyland fandom deserves some additional attention. Disney Magic, and its resultant fan behavior, has no clear parallel elsewhere. Understanding what makes Disneyland fans tick will lead to a better understanding of how fandoms work in general.

L'associaèdre se situe à l'interface de plusieurs domaines mathématiques. Combinatoirement, il s'agit du complexe simplicial des dissections d'un polygone convexe (ensembles de diagonales ne se croisant pas deux à deux). Géométriquement, il s'agit d'un polytope dont les sommets et les arêtes encodent le graphe dual du complexe des dissections. Enfin l'associaèdre décrit la structure combinatoire qui définit la présentation par générateurs et relations de certaines algèbres, dites << amassées >>. Du fait de son omniprésence, de nouvelles familles généralisant cet objet sont régulièrement découvertes. Cependant elles n'ont souvent que de faibles interactions. Leurs études respectives présentent de notre point de vue deux enjeux majeurs : chercher à les relier en se basant sur les propriétés connues de l'associaèdre ; et chercher pour chacune des cadres combinatoire, géométrique et algébrique dans le même esprit.Dans cette thèse, nous traitons le lien entre combinatoire et géométrie pour certaines de ces généralisations : les associaèdres de graphes, les complexes de sous-mots et les complexes d'accordéons. Nous suivons un fil rouge consistant à adapter, à ces trois familles, une méthode de construction des associaèdres comme éventails (ensembles de cônes polyédraux), dite méthode des d-vecteurs et issue de la théorie des algèbres amassées. De manière plus large, notre problématique principale consiste à réaliser, c'est-à-dire plonger géométriquement dans un espace vectoriel, des complexes abstraits. Nous obtenons trois familles de nouvelles réalisations, ainsi qu'une quatrième encore conjecturale dont les premières instances constituent déjà des avancées significatives.Enfin, en sus des résultats géométriques, nous démontrons des propriétés combinatoires spécifiques à chaque complexe simplicial abordé. / The associahedron is at the interface between several mathematical fields. Combinatorially, it is the simplicial complex of dissections of a convex polygon (sets of mutually noncrossing diagonals). Geometrically, it is a polytope whose vertices and edges encode the dual graph of the complex of dissections. Finally the associahedron describes the combinatorial structure defining a presentation by generators and relations of certain algebras, called ``cluster algebras''. Because of its ubiquity, we regularly come up with new families generalizing this object. However there often are only few interactions between them. From our perspective, there are two main issues when studying them: looking for relations on the basis of known properties of the associahedron; and, for each, looking for combinatorial, geometric and algebraic frameworks in the same spirit.In this thesis, we deal with the link between combinatorics and geometry for some of these generalizations: graph associahedra, subword complexes and accordion complexes. We follow a guidelight consisting in adapting, to these three families, a method for constructing associahedra as fans (sets of polyhedral cones), called the d-vector method and coming from cluster algebra theory. More generally, our main concern is to realize, that is geometrically embed in a vector space, abstract complexes. We obtain three new families of generalizations, and a fourth conjectural one whose first instances already constitute significant advances.Finally in addition to the geometric results, we prove combinatorial properties specific to each encountered simplicial complex.

Online fandom communities exist as a hub of subcultural construction for people across the globe. For queer people, fandom represents a space to safely converge over mutual interests. Previous research has focused on queer fans and popular music fans independently, often taking a pathological approach. This study qualitatively examines queer participants in the Katy Perry fandom through surveys and one-on-one interviews. The theoretical backbone of the study is built around uses and gratifications theory, seeking to understand motivations for fandom participation. The concepts of the heteronormative matrix and queer resistance are additionally incorporated to analyze how LGBTQ+ fans combat societal norms. This research found seven motivations for queer fans to participate in online fandom, providing insight into an understudied community.

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